The Third Victim Part 22

"Was this her first job?"

"Her first full-time teaching position. She subbed in Beaverton's school district before that. That's one of the reasons we hired her."

VanderZanden gave them the apologetic look of a veteran civil servant.

"We have a very tight budget here, and new teachers are cheaper than experienced ones."

"Do you know anything about her private life?" Rainie asked.

"Where her family lives, anything?"

VanderZanden hesitated. He looked self-conscious again and wouldn't meet Rainie's gaze.

"I believe she has parents in the Portland area."

"What about past relations.h.i.+ps? Maybe an old boyfriend she left behind? A current beau who wanted more of her time?"

"I think ... I think you should ask her parents about that sort of thing. It's not appropriate for me to be commenting on the private lives of my staff."

"Princ.i.p.al VanderZanden, we don't have a lot of time."

"Phone calls are fast, Officer," he said firmly.

"It's the advantage of modern life."

Rainie frowned, not liking the princ.i.p.al's sudden lack of cooperation, but before she could push harder, Quincy p.i.s.sed her off by taking over the interview.

"What about Danny's relations.h.i.+p with Miss Avalon? Did they get along well? Did he have any problems in her cla.s.s?"

"Oh no," VanderZanden said emphatically.

"That's the crazy thing about yesterday. I would've sworn Miss Avalon was Danny's favorite teacher. Certainly he loved being in the computer lab and was one of our most adept students on the Internet. Before school, during lunch, after school. It seemed he was always in the lab. Sometimes Miss Avalon even stayed late just for him."

"On the Internet?" Rainie jumped in.

"Do you know what he'd do on the Web, where he'd go?"

"I'm not sure. Visit Web sites, look things up."

"Did he go into chat rooms?"

"Probably. Miss Avalon had it set up so students couldn't access X-rated sites she had one of those filters installed. Otherwise, students were free to roam. The whole point was to encourage them to be more computer savvy."

"Did he play computer games?" Quincy asked.

"Any specific ones?"

"I don't know. In all honesty, the only person who would is Miss Avalon."

Rainie nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. Danny loved the Internet.

That put a new spin on things. An adept user could go just about anyplace, learn just about anything. The Springfield shooter, Kip Kinkel, had used the Internet to learn how to build bombs and rig b.o.o.by traps. Right before they were murdered, his parents had even commented to friends that they were happy to see their troubled son take an interest in computers. Finally, something nonviolent .. .

It also meant Danny could've been exposed to any number of crackpots and loose cannons. Forget just Charlie Kenyon. Danny was a young, troubled boy whose family was going through a hard time. His vulnerability would've been boundless.

"We need to search those computers," Rainie muttered. "Detective Sanders already has them. Didn't he tell you?"

"Oh, you know Detective Sanders. He's such an efficient little It must have slipped his mind." Rainie smiled sweetly for VanderZanden, though her sarcasm was not lost on Quincy.

"Did Danny often stay late after school?" Quincy returned to the original line of questioning.

VanderZanden glanced at Rainie. She shrugged.

"It's a murder investigation. Everything is going to come out sooner or later."

VanderZanden sighed. He appeared tired and worn again. A man due to have many more sleepless nights and ethical struggles over how to best serve his students. He said quietly, "Danny's parents have been having marital difficulties."

"Sandy got a new job," Rainie told Quincy bluntly.

"She likes it, but it's a lot of hours. Shep didn't want her to work in the first place, let alone if it came in the way of getting dinner ready."

"Are they separated?"

"Nah. They're Catholic."

"Oh, got it."

"Sandy came in one day to meet with Danny and Becky's teachers,"

VanderZanden explained.

"She expressed that there was a great deal of tension at home and she knew it was hard on the children. She wanted their teachers to understand what was going on and keep an eye out for the kids. Becky has certainly been more withdrawn this year. And Danny has had a few .. . issues."

"The smoking," Rainie prompted.

"And ..."

"Three weeks ago Danny came to school agitated. He couldn't remember his locker combination, and something in him just went. He started pounding on the door with his fists and yelling how much he hated the locker and the school and how was he supposed to remember anything when everyone knew he was stupid ' "Stupid?" Quincy interjected.

"You heard him say he was stupid?"

"Oh yes, I was there, Agent. It took both myself and Richard Mann to subdue him. Danny was yelling "Stupid, stupid, stupid" over and over again. I was very worried about him."

Quincy looked at Rainie. She shrugged. She didn't know where this was coming from either, but Danny seemed to have an issue with his intelligence.

"He was on the honor roll?" Quincy asked the princ.i.p.al again.

"Yes."

"You considered him a good student? His teachers were pleased with his performance?"